News Release

The OECD today invited Colombia to join its Working Group on Bribery and to accede to the Anti-Bribery Convention. OECD Deputy Secretary-General Richard Boucher signed an exchange of letters with Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos.

To help governments meet this challenge, the OECD and the World Bank/UNODC Stolen Asset Recovery Initiative (StAR) released today a new study on the Identification and Quantification of the Proceeds of Bribery.

Mexico has improved, but needs to give greater priority to the criminal enforcement of bribery and ensure that its criminal law enforcement authorities have all the resources and expertise they need to seriously investigate all allegations, according to a new OECD report.

Luxembourg must step up its efforts to detect and prosecute cases of bribery of foreign public officials, particularly now that its legal framework has been strengthened, in compliance with the Anti-Bribery Convention

Norway has made significant progress in its efforts against the bribery of foreign public officials in recent years, according to a new OECD report. But more could be done to strengthen enforcement, including by focusing on the confiscation from companies of the proceeds of bribery.

Governments in the Arab region should quickly step up their efforts to tackle bribery and corruption in order to boost job creation, improve living standards through achieving the MDGs and promote trust in government.

The OECD will today invite the Russian Federation to join the OECD’s Working Group on Bribery and to accede to the OECD’s Anti-Bribery Convention. Secretary-General Angel Gurría will sign an exchange of letters with First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Andrey Denisov, and Russia’s Minister for Economic Development, Elvira Nabiullina, at a ceremony during the OECD Ministerial Council Meeting.

Ministers from OECD and developing economies will today agree new guidelines to promote more responsible international business conduct by multinational enterprises, and a second set of guidelines to limit the use of conflict minerals.